After playing nine games in 17 days, the Edmonton Oil Kings were desperate for a break.

An argument could be made, the Oil Kings took the break a game early, losing 6-0 to the Spokane Chiefs this past Sunday, after clearly running out of gas.

But a six-day layoff prior to hosting the Regina Pats this Sunday (4 p.m.) at Rogers Place, have the Oil Kings feeling refreshed.

“Probably the most valuable part of the week was giving the guys a couple days off the ice,” Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton said. “I thought that was a good reset and now we’ve had a string of practices and it’s nice to get back at it, and work on a few things where we feel we need to get better a few bits at a time.”

The Oil Kings went 3-4-2 during the nine-game stretch with impressive wins over the Everett Silvertips, Swift Current Broncos and Prince George Cougars. They were also able to earn a point against the Pats and Victoria Royals.

Sandwiched in the 17-day stretch was a four-game road trip through the WHL East Division, where the Oil Kings handed the Broncos their first loss of the season.

“I think the overall body of work was much improved, we definitely took some strides in a positive direction as a group,” Hamilton said. “The road trip was really good for us, because it was a string of elite-level teams in a row and we responded well. I thought that really built a lot of confidence in the guys and built a lot of confidence in the room. You saw it in their play.”

Brett Kemp #24 of the Edmonton Oil Kings looks for a shot on goaltender Dawson Weatherill #37 of the Spokane Chiefs at Rogers Place on October 22, 2017 in Edmonton.

The Oil Kings returned from the road trip a more confident group and displayed it against the Royals and Cougars. Edmonton was able to gut out a shootout win against the Cougars despite heavy legs.

By the time the Chiefs came to town, the Oil Kings did not have anything left.

“The Spokane game wasn’t great, we were out of gas, that was pretty evident to anyone who was in the building,” Hamilton said. “There wasn’t a lot of jump that day, but we’ll start again with Regina, we’ll get right back into it. They’re an elite team, hosting the Memorial Cup this year, so we have to be prepared to go.”

Picking up at least a point in five of the nine games has allowed the Oil Kings to remain in the mix in the Central Division standings, tied with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Red Deer Rebels for second place with 12 points each heading into the weekend.

Sunday’s game against the Pats is the first of three consecutive home games for the Oil Kings before they embark on a tough five-game road trip through the B.C. Division.

Edmonton will host the Seattle Thunderbirds on Thursday and Saskatoon Blades on Friday before loading up the bus to begin the road trip in Victoria.

“We’re making strides, definitely, and that’s really all we can look for in our team, is to get better and better every day,” said Oil Kings forward Trey Fix-Wolansky. “We’re still a pretty young team and a lot of the teams we played on that road trip are going to be contenders or upcoming contenders. I think we fared pretty well, it would have been better to get more wins, but I definitely think our team made a lot of strides the last couple of weeks.”

The Oil Kings are still on the front end of a rebuilding phase and along with the time off this week, welcome all the practice time they can get between games. Edmonton have four practice days to prepare for Regina.

“It’s good, it’s always nice to get some time off, recover and regroup as team,” said Oil Kings centre Davis Koch. “We played some tough games and didn’t finish off with a good game, so it’s good to reset after a game like that and work on some things.

“It got tough, we were playing a game, then had a break and then played a game the next night. We were doing that a few times and it takes a toll on the body and we didn’t have much time to recover. A couple of days of practice is always nice, but a grueling schedule like that is always hard on the guys.”

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